The fate of politicians under the current military regime doesn't look very bright.
Since staging the 2014 coup the military has repeatedly placed the blame on politicians, causing Thailand to enter a period of prolonged political conflict that has tarnished the country's image.
The military has used this tactic of tarring and feathering politicians to engender public mistrust of them and further justify its stay in power as the only force capable of maintaining peace and order.
Paritta Wangkiat is a reporter, Bangkok Post.
In recent weeks the political climate has been increasingly hostile to politicians, especially members of the Pheu Thai Party, the third incarnation of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinwatra's now-dissolved Thai Rak Thai Party.
The parties led by Thaksin, and later by his sister Yingluck, won general elections from 2001 until 2011.
Recently, core members of the Pheu Thai have regularly appeared as defendants in a number of lawsuits.
Among them is Jatuporn Prompan, former Pheu Thai MP and president of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship.
The Supreme Court last week sentenced him to one year in jail for defaming former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during a political protest in 2009.
Two lower courts had previously cleared him of the charge.
This Wednesday, former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, will hear a ruling by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.
The case involves malfeasance charges against him and three other defendants for their roles in ordering authorities to disperse a yellow-shirt protest in 2008, which resulted in fatalities and injuries.
Ms Yingluck is also under pressure.
She has been tried in the same court for alleged dereliction of duty in handling her government's "loss-ridden" rice-pledging scheme -- a public policy declared in parliament.
A verdict is scheduled for Aug 25.
Her case raises speculation about whether it will make future governments reluctant to initiate public policies.
Her fugitive brother, Thaksin, has not been spared. At least five court cases against him, now suspended due to his absence, can be tried in absentia once a draft organic law on criminal procedures for holders of political positions comes into effect.
The new law is retrospective and allows the Supreme Court to resume suspended cases without having to worry about their statute of limitations.
These and other pending political cases will nurture people's distaste for the political class, even though the cases relate to a small number of politicians.
Despite heaping blame on politicians, the military rarely allows them, especially those from the Pheu Thai camp, a chance to publicly defend themselves.
It has not lifted its ban on public political gatherings; and many Pheu Thai supporters have faced summonses, house searches or arrests for the sake of "national security".
The regime has continued to attack politicians, citing their "lack of accountability".
"Bad people creating problems in a good kingdom" is a familiar refrain from people with a dislike of politicians.
Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has blamed a lack of moral values in Thai society as the root cause of failed democracy here.
Now the present and future look equally bleak for many in politics.
Under the new, regime-sponsored constitution, elected politicians will have less influence in parliament as the military continues to keep a check on their conduct.
During the first five years after the first general election, the lower house will be controlled by 250 senators appointed by the military.
They will keep the next government in check whether its policies follow the regime's mandatory 20-year national strategy or not.
The Senate will also be allowed to nominate a non-MP as prime minister if MPs fail to pick a candidate from political parties' lists.
Section 44 of the interim charter, which gives Gen Prayut sweeping powers, will live on until the next election, raising concern it may curb freedom of expression during election campaigns.
But making the public lose trust in their represented voices while also justifying the regime's stay in power without proper check-and-balance mechanisms is particularly distasteful.
Suppressing politicians is no different from forcing people to submit to a non-democratic regime known for its unchecked errors.